An defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the potential threats associated with Chinese vehicles, while staff have been told to refrain from talking about classified matters in any vehicles.
Security Advice for Defence Personnel
During a recent interview on a radio station, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to discuss secret material while riding in China-made vehicles.
He explained that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however stressed that safety is a issue in all modern cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
But whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their car, to avoid having conversations at a secret level in any vehicle, because of the increasing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to only have those confidential talks in protected areas. That’s a wise and sensible thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using all cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
This revelation comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese buses, which could allow China to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship has been directing lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This broader security situation underscores the significance of strong measures and vigilance in every areas of government activities, including vehicle usage to communication practices.
